Collingswood hosts Dave Mason's 'Traffic Jam'

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dave Mason, co-founder of the rock band Traffic, will bring his show, “Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam.” to the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood on Jan. 25.

Mason was in and out of Traffic a few times over the years. The list of artists he has played with reads like a Who’s Who of Rock Legend: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Steve Winwood, Fleetwood Mac, Delaney Bramlett and Cass Elliott.

He was inducted into the hall of fame as a founding member of Traffic in 2004.

The notion of doing this “Traffic Jam” show “has been in the back of my mind for five or six years,” Mason said in a recent telephone interview.

“I didn’t know how to do it, or what to do, but then there came the right moment,” he said.

Mason begins the show with the songs of Traffic.

“It’s cool. It’s part of my history, part of my legacy. I was there,” he said.

“These are songs I haven’t played or sung since I was 18 or 19 years old. I thought it might be interesting to put something together musically, stuff from the first two albums, instead of just restricting it to the time I was there,” Mason said.

Among those songs, he said, will be a “very different, bluesy version” of “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys.”

In the second portion of the show, “I sequé into my songs, with some new songs in there. Its a little bit of everything, kind of, ‘Here I am now’,” he said.

“There’s certain things I talk through. I’m a little spontaneous with that kind of stuff and that’s the way it is with my shows anyway,” said Mason.

“I find that the audience gets involved. Someone’s always yelling out something. I kind of leave that spontaneous. I tend to keep things a little loose,” he said.

“Especially in the Traffic songs, there’s space for people to jam. I have a great young guitar player, Jason Roller, and I’m letting him have at it,” Mason said.

“In the last year, I’ve been getting into the songs and singing, just playing acoustic guitar. I do play some leads, but I let Jason do a lot. He’s a really great guitar player and has chops up the wazoo,” he said. Although Roller also plays banjo and violin, he’ll do a few songs on the mandolin, according to Mason.

“The way he weaves it together is great,” said Mason.

Eventually, there will be visual aspects added to the “Traffic Jam” show, although he wasn’t sure that will have evolved by the time he plays in Collingswood.

Mason said it would be great if his show evolved enough to feature “other artists doing their favorite Traffic songs.”

Rounding out his stage band are Alvino Bennett on drums and Tony Patler, who handles keyboard bass, keyboards and some vocals.

The songs in “Traffic Jam” are “tunes I haven’t rehearsed for years, many written by Jim (Kreuger) and Steve (Winwood), before we segué into my stuff,” said Mason. “It’s part of what the people come for, anyway.”